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When journalist Ron Durbin walked into Ponca City Hall with a simple public records request, he encountered something unprecedented: city employees weaponizing Adele songs to try to sabotage his reporting. What unfolded next reveals a coordinated effort by city leadership to suppress First Amendment activities through copyright manipulation.
The Music Starts Playing
Within moments of entering the city clerk's office with his camera, employee Janet retreated to the back office and returned blasting music at maximum volume. When confronted about the obvious interference tactic, Janet admitted she was following direct orders from city administration to play copyrighted music whenever people arrive with video cameras.
The scheme appeared calculated to prevent the footage from being published online due to copyright issues. But Janet and her supervisors apparently never considered that professional video editors can remove audio tracks in seconds.
City Leadership Orchestrated the Plan
The music wasn't a spontaneous decision by front-line employees. Janet revealed that both City Manager Craig Stevenson and the city attorney had instructed staff "weeks ago" to implement this strategy when encountering people with cameras. This wasn't a reaction to Durbin's visit, but a premeditated policy designed to chill First Amendment activities.
When Durbin politely explained that the music could be easily removed and asked Janet to turn it off, she refused. "I don't work for the public," she declared, despite being a government employee whose salary comes from taxpayer funds.
The Pattern Spreads Throughout City Hall
The interference didn't stop with Janet. When Durbin moved to other areas of city hall to speak with supervisors, additional employees began playing music as well. The coordinated response suggests this wasn't isolated misconduct but an official policy implemented building-wide.
Deputy City Manager Don encountered the same situation when he agreed to meet with Durbin about the incident. Even as they discussed the unprofessional appearance of the music tactic, another employee continued the audio interference nearby.
Officials Admit It Looks Bad
During his conversation with the deputy city manager, Durbin explained that he had experienced identical treatment just days earlier from the mayor of Bristol, Oklahoma. In that case, the mayor eventually apologized and offered to bake cookies as an olive branch after realizing how foolish the tactic appeared on camera.
The deputy city manager acknowledged that the music policy created a poor professional appearance for the city. However, no immediate steps were taken to address the ongoing interference during Durbin's visit.
The Larger Constitutional Question
Beyond the obvious unprofessionalism, legal experts would likely classify this behavior as a civil rights violation. Using copyright law as a weapon to suppress journalism activities creates what courts call a "chilling effect" on First Amendment freedoms. The fact that multiple Oklahoma cities appear to be implementing similar tactics suggests this may be a coordinated effort rather than isolated incidents.
The video footage captures every moment of the attempted suppression, leaving viewers to witness exactly how city officials respond when faced with accountability journalism. But what happened when Durbin finally submitted his records request, and did any city leaders ultimately take responsibility for this misguided policy?
Watch the full confrontation to see how Ponca City officials doubled down on their copyright scheme and what it reveals about government transparency in small-town Oklahoma.
